Line protector



Jan. 22, 1963 s. N. SCHLEIN LINE PROTECTOR Filed June 28, 1961 INVEN TOR. 5YM002 Al. StI/Lf/N H/S A TTOENEY United States Patent 3,075,037 LINE PROTECTOR Seymour N. Schlein, University Heights, Ohio, assignor to The Fanner Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Rhode Island Filed June 28, 1961, Ser. No. 120,335 3 Claims. (Cl. 174-5) This invention relates to protective devices and more particularly to a device for protecting wires or conductors which are run along a surface of a pole, building or the like.

Heretofore it has been common practice to provide protective means for certain types of conductors which are run along a surface, such as that of a building or a pole, and wherein it is desired to so cover the conductor that it cannot be tampered with by unauthorized persons. These devices are particularly useful in conjunctions with ground wires which provide a ground for various systems, such as power transmission lines, communication lines and the like and which are extended from the ground wire at the top of the pole or building down alongside the pole or building and are secured to a grounded rod at their bottom ends. Such devices must be protected against unauthorized tampering because, should they become broken at 01' near the ground, they could present a high voltage hazard which would be dangerous to persons that might touch the same. Several means have been proposed for protecting such conductors including the providing of a conduit into which the wire is placed, or providing a metal channel which covers the wire and surrounds the wire for a suflicient height above the ground to protect the same. Both the conduit and the metal channel are subject to the hazards of possible electric shock. One of the more common types is a guard made of wood. Any of the foregoing devices are expensive to manufacture, diflicult to install, and very apt to work loose in time, due to the changes in temperature which cause considerable expansion and contraction of the device, resulting in the loosening of its fastening means. The solid tubular type cover is extremely difficult to install because the ground wire must be fished through the tube, and, when secured to the building or pole, must be held in place by one man while another one secures the clamps about the device and tacks them to the supporting structure. The wooden device deteriorates rapidly and is apt to split by the workman climbing the pole with the usual spur type climbers.

The present invention contemplates a device which is not subject to deterioration due to the weather. It is considerably lighter than the prior devices and therefore less difficult to handle. Since the device is made of plastic, which is impervious to moisture, it cannot present a potential shock hazard. Being made of plastic, certain parts may be telescoped one within the other in overlapping relation and the telescoped joint can expand and contract with changes in temperature without hindrance.

A particular advantage includes the combination of the guard itself with its fastening means, which is also made of plastic and so designed that it (the fastening means) may be held in place by frictional engagement with the guard itself when placed on the guard, enabling the workmen to nail the fastening means to the pole or building without the need of extra hands to hold the parts in place. The fastening means being of the same material as the guard provides other advantages in that it expands and contracts at the same rate as the guard and therefore does not restrain the guard in its movement through the fastening means during its longitudinal expansion and contraction and does not cause alternate working of the nail securing the same in place, due to ice transverse expansion and resulting in eventually working loose the nails. Of particular interest is the fact that the construction of the clamp is such that when it is nailed in place a zone of material of the clamp is displaced around the nail into the supporting structure and provides a more secure and waterproof seal that prevents rusting of the nails.

Due to the fact that the guard is sufliciently resilient so that one portion may be telescoped over the other, the need for butt joints is eliminated with the resultant possibility of forming gaps between the sections of the guards, due to the alternate longitudinal expansion and contraction, and, the exposure of the conductor at these gaps is prevented.

Since the guard has a certain amount of flexibility should a workman climbing the pole with the usual climbers happen to hit the guard with one of the spurs, the guard will flex sufficiently to allow the spur to enter the wood Without permanent deflection of the guard which immediately goes back into its original position when the spur is withdrawn. Due to its curved exterior formation and the toughness of the material, the spurs do not have the tendency to rupture the guard or pass through it and hit the enclosed wire, thus decreasing the possibility of shock. If it is struck by a spur it will not split, as does the wood guard and is much more diflicult to penetrate than those of wood since its curved structure causes it to deflect on contact with the spur.

Still other advantages of the invention and the invention itself will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof which illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view of a power line and its supporting pole, showing a ground wire extending from the ground line through a guard of the invention which is secured to the side of the pole;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of a portion of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the invention Where the two portions are overlapped.

Referring now to the drawings, throughout which like parts are designated by like reference characters, and particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a pole 10 set into the ground 11 in the usual manner and which near the top carries a cross arm 12 with a pair of hot wires 13 and a ground wire 14. The guard, illustrated at 15, is secured to the side of the pole by cleats 16, and the ground wire 17, which is attached to the neutral or ground wire 14, extends down through the guard and is attached to a ground rod 18. A pole is shown by way of illus tration. It should be understood that the guard and its wire could be attached to any kind of structure, which could be a pole, building or fence, and that it is not essential to its operation that it be installed in a vertical position since it could be run horizontally when desired.

Referring to FIG. 3, which is a cross sectional view of a portion of a support 10 with a guard secured thereto, the guard comprises a member of U-shaped channel cross section having substantially parallel legs 15a which are adapted to butt against the surface of the support 10 and a curved extremity connecting the two legs. In one application of the invention the guard may be of substantially the size shown in FIG. 3. However, this size may be varied, depending upon the number and size of the conductors to be protected. The channel shaped members may be made in varying lengths to suit the convenience of the user, six foot lengths being common. The guard is preferably made of a rigid vinyl plastic and preferably should have an exterior surface that is slightly rough. When the word rough is used, it is meant that the plastic does not have an extremely smooth and glass-like surface, and that the roughness is such that it provides good frictional engagement with the securing means, later to be described, and at the same time does ermit, under certain conditions, relative movement therebe-tween without undue restraining pressure.

The channel member is usually secured in place over the wire after the wire has been strung and properly connected. In this connection, the two legs 1511, as stated,

' abut the surface and extend in close engagement therewith.

The holding means comprises a body member of substantially the same shape as the periphery of the guard itself, and having a pair of laterally extending legs 20a extending outward from the bottom ends of the U-shaped body which legs are provided with apertures 21 through which suitable nails 22 may be driven into the supporting structure. Obviously if the structure was metal, self-tapping screws or bolts could be used. Of particular importance, as shown in FIG. 4, is the fact that the nail holes 21 are made considerably smaller than the nail shank. When the nail is driven through the hole 21, the shank causes a distortion of the material around the hole into a conical zone which has some penetration of the wood along with the nail, as shown in FIG. 3. This, therefore, provides a good seal around the nail and between the cleat and the wood, preventing water from entering in and subsequent rusting of the nail.

The body it is of such conformation that it hugs the guard and may be installed in place on the guar and will stay on the guard by itself during installation. Thus, a strip of the guard may have the cleats put in a desired place on the guard, placed in position over the wire and then the nails driven through the both holes by a single workman, since he does not have to hold the cleats and the guard in place While he is placing the nail.

The legs forming the body of the cleats are substantially the same length as the sides of the guard and when the cleats are secured in place undue pressure cannot be applied by driving the nails home, thus clamping the guard too securely. This is brought about by having the body of the cleat the same size as the cross sectional periphery of the guard and also due to a limited amount of flexibility in cleat itself, which permits a certain amount of deformation when it is secured in place.

One of the problems in the prior art has been that the metallic guards had to be installed in abutting relation to make a proper joint between the sections and, unless an extra cover Was provided at this point, the expansion and contraction of the sections caused the separate sections to be pushed apart, eventually leaving a gap between them, which was highly undesirable.

As shown in FIG. 4, the resiliency of the guard itself is such that the ends of the guard may be overlapped a certain amount, depending upon the wishes of the user, which may be as much as /2, %1, 1 inch or more, by simply placing one end of the guard over the other, pushing it home, and then applying a pair of the holding cleats in slightly spaced rela ion to the overlapped joints close enough to hold the parts in proper relation. Should the parts which overlap be distorted slightly, due to the overlapping, in time, due to the plastic flow of the device, it will eventually conform to the overlapped section and provide a good cover. It can be seen that this is an extremely quick and easy way of providing a foolproof joint.

iii)

Mg 3,06 s.

It will therefore be seen that I have provided a guard which can be quickly and easily installed by a single workman. The sections of the guard may be slightly overlapped to provide a continuous guard which does not present gaps in time, due to expansion and contraction. Since the cleats and the guards are made of the same material, the coeriicient of expansion is the same and, although the guard is held sufiiciently by the straps or cleats to keep it in place, it is also permitted to move when the forcesof expansion are operating. Due to the surface texture and the conformation of the clamps, they provide a good frictional grip between each other and still permit the desired amount of movement.

Being of an insulating material and impervious to moisture, the shock hazard is completely eliminated and it is able to withstand the weather since it will not rust or materially deteriorate over long periods of time. The plastic is extremely cheap to make because it may be extruded in desired lengths by a very simple and economical apparatus.

Having thus described my invention, I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

1 claim:

1. A line guard for use in conjunction with the protection of a conductor secured to the surface of a pole or other structure comprising an elongated U-shaped channel member of substantially rigid plastic arranged to be placed over the conductor with the legs of the U in contact with the supporting structure means to hold said channel member in place comprising securing members made of a substantially rigid plastic having the same coeiiicient of expansion as the channel member and comprising a U-shaped body having an inner surface of the same configuration as the transverse exterior of the channel member, and having laterally extending ears arranged to receive securing means therethrough'which pass into the support, said securing members having a width slightly less than that of the channel member so that they are trictionally held in place thereon preliminary to securing to the support structure and a degree of stiffness such that they retain their shape and have frictional engagement with the channel member and sufiicient flexibility that they will expand with expansion of the member and allow the member to slide therein.

2. A device as described in claim 1, wherein the exterior height of the side walls and body of the channel member is transversely coextensive with interior height of the body and legs of each securing member.

3. A device as described in claim 1, wherein the laterally extending ears are formed with nail holes that are smaller than the shanks of the nails and'wherein the Zones around the holes are distorted by the nails into intimate engagement with the supporting structure when the nails are driven into the structure.

References tCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 405,546 'Frist June 18, 1889 1,600,224 Grundy Sept. 21, 1926 1,923,825 Herz Aug. 22, 1933 2,230,734 Van Antwerp Feb. 4, 1941 2,408,253- Diebold Sept. 24, 1946 2,541,406 Clapp Feb. 13, 1951 2,901,200 Voeks Aug. 25, 1959 2,945,081 Bogese et a1 July 12, 1960 

1. A LINE GUARD FOR USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE PROTECTION OF A CONDUCTOR SECURED TO THE SURFACE OF A POLE OR OTHER STRUCTURE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED U-SHAPED CHANNEL MEMBER OF SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID PLASTIC ARRANGED TO BE PLACED OVER THE CONDUCTOR WITH THE LEGS OF THE U IN CONTACT WITH THE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, MEANS TO HOLD SAID CHANNEL MEMBER IN PLACE COMPRISING SECURING MEMBERS MADE OF A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID PLASTIC HAVING THE SAME COEFFICIENT OF EXPANSION AS THE CHANNEL MEMBER AND COMPRISING A U-SHAPED BODY HAVING AN INNER SURFACE OF THE SAME CONFIGURATION AS THE TRANSVERSE EXTERIOR OF THE CHANNEL MEMBER, AND HAVING LATERALLY EXTENDING EARS ARRANGED TO RECEIVE SECURING MEANS THERETHROUGH WHICH PASS INTO THE SUPPORT, SAID SECURING MEMBERS HAVING A WIDTH SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THAT OF THE CHANNEL MEMBER SO THAT THEY 